November 2009

‘Famines have indeed occurred in electoral democracies’ About as close to heresy as a development wonk can get. Olivier Rubin questions Amartya Sen’s famous assertion that political rights avert famines ‘A financial transactions tax is an idea whose time has come.’ Paul Krugman gives his support to the new incarnation of the Tobin Tax ‘America’s governance crisis is the worst in modern history. Moreover, it …

A Thanksgiving and pre-Copenhagen treat – this vintage 1962 Life Magazine advert from Humble Energy – which became Exxon after its merger with Standard Oil. In those days, big oil really told it like it was [h/t Alex Evans]. By the way, if you’re somewhere between Oxford and Copenhagen and you see a footsore Indian hiker with flowing locks, be nice to him. He’s Push …

The Bank’s Independent Evaluation Group – an internal watchdog with a good track record in spotting problems, has just published an evaluation of the World Bank Group (WBG)’s response to the crisis. Nothing earth-shattering, but here are some highlights: ‘The greatest part of the Bank’s response in fiscal 2009 was a large increase in IBRD lending, which was unprecedented relative to previous levels but modest …

In 1978 Caroline Moser, a young British anthropologist went with her two children and film-maker husband to Indio Guayas, a new squatter settlement in the swamps surrounding the Ecuadorian city of Guayaquil. They built a 4 x 8 metre bamboo house joined to dry ground by long, rickety walkways, and lived there for 7 months while Brian Moser made a film of life in the …

‘In the late 1950s around a billion people—about one-third of the world’s population—were estimated to go hungry every day. Famines were threatening millions in Asia and Africa in particular, and prospects for feeding the world’s booming population looked bleak. In response to this alarming picture, scientists, policymakers, farmers, and concerned individuals initiated a concerted push to boost agricultural production and productivity in developing countries. Developing …

Like a good academic assassination? Settle back and enjoy a quite brilliant filleting by the University of Chicago’s Raymond T. Pierrehumber of Superfreakonomics’ ‘analysis’ that expanding solar power would increase global warming. [h/t Steve Jennings] Affirmative action works for women in India, according to a research round-up by Chris Blattman What is China doing about its carbon emissions? Sort out facts from abuse at this …

Climate Change is giving Bolivia a rough ride. One of the poorest, most unequal, and most biodiverse countries in Latin America, it has been buffeted by ‘natural’ disasters in recent years and is home to 20% of the world’s tropical glaciers, which are melting faster than most experts thought possible. Bolivia is also home to an exciting change process under the country’s first ever indigenous …

An excellent new paper from the prolific Martin Ravallion, head of the World Bank’s research department, compares the successes in poverty reduction in three of the biggest beasts of the developing world: China, India and Brazil. Between them, these countries are home to a bit less than half the world’s poor people, but it used to be a lot more. Each has combined market-oriented reforms …

A new report from the Center for Economic and Policy Research in Washington DC tries to work out whether the IMF has really changed its thinking in response to the global economic crisis and the general perception that countercyclical responses (rather than belt-tightening austerity) are the right way to go in a recession. After a (fairly polite) public row with Fund staff at a panel …

‘Scientists at the £3.6bn Large Hadron Collider (LHC) found their plans to emulate the big bang postponed this week when a passing bird dropped a “bit of baguette” into the machine, causing it to overheat’ records the Guardian. But there’s a much more sinister explanation from the whackier frontiers of theoretical physics: ‘ripples from the future are travelling back in time to stop the Switzerland-based particle …

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This is a conversational blog written and maintained by Duncan Green, strategic adviser for Oxfam GB and author of ‘From Poverty to Power’. This personal reflection is not intended as a comprehensive statement of Oxfam's agreed policies.